Family of chairmen

At a recent Hampden Board of Selectmen meeting, Selectman Vincent Villamaino was unanimously voted as the board's chairman.
His fellow board members, John Flynn and Richard Green, invited Vincent's nephew, Jack Villamaino, the recently elected chairman of the East Longmeadow Board of Selectmen, to be the first to congratulate his uncle.

When asked by someone in attendance if having two Chairman Villamainos would cause confusion, Jack, patting his uncle's belly, quipped, "Oh, I don't think anyone will confuse one of us for the other."

To which Vincent quickly retorted, "I agree. There's the young Chairman Villamaino and the handsome one," giving his nephew a playful slap on the cheek.

Memorable moment

Alicia M. Zitka

The West Springfield Memorial Day parade included the usual marchers - bands, military, police officers and firefighters.

This year, the parade also featured the beauty of Miss Massachusetts, Alicia M. Zitka, riding in the back of a maroon Ford Galaxie 500 convertible.

The classic auto is owned by former City Councilor George M. Kelly, who was driving it in the parade.

Zitka smiled and waved to the people watching the parade.

As the car idled on Elm Street, a man in the crowd yelled to Kelly, "Miss Massachusetts? How did you get to drive her?"

Kelly flashed a broad smile. "Luck o' the Irish," he said.

Kudos for Lipman's latest

"The Family Man," the latest book by Northampton author Elinor Lipman, was selected for The Must List in a recent edition of Entertainment Weekly.

Lipman, in the midst of a country-wide tour, will be one of the instructors at Bay Path College's "Kitchen Sink," a woman writers' weekend July 31 to Aug. 2 on the Longmeadow campus.

D, as in Dems and Day

First, Western Massachusetts Democrats got to see now-Vice President Joseph Biden for a fund-raiser in Holyoke last September.

Now, they are about to see David A. Plouffe at the MassMutual Center in Springfield.

Plouffe was the campaign manager for President Barack Obama's successful campaign for the White House, and he will speak at this year's state Democratic Party convention on June 6, which happens to be the aniversary of D-Day.

Watch your back

The Ludlow School Committee recently honored graduating senior Andrea M. Jorge for her service as the student representative on the School Committee.

"I only had a problem with one other student representative on the committee, and he's on the School Committee now," School Committee Chairman Joseph A. Santos kidded.

School Committee member Jacob R. Oliveira, 22, won election to the committee in March.